Left to Chance
by semirose
Summary: Jaden, a small town Pokémon trainer returns home to help out at the Pokémon breeding/daycare centre after battling it out for a badge and having an awkward run in with Ash, Misty and Brock who soon after find themselves in the same town, they invite Jaden along on their journey where they find new Pokémon, rivals and a bit of romance.


Author note:

Please note that I do not have someone to edit my work. I did my best with a few read throughs and the spell check but that can only catch so much so I apologize now if there are any mistakes.

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><p>The lights dimmed in the arena and the crowd grew silent with anticipation. Footsteps echoed through the building as a man walked to center stage in the darkness. When the lights flicked on above him his shirt sparked and he held his hands up while the crowd cheered. When the screams died down he raised the mic to his mouth and spoke.<p>

"Welcome everyone to the final day of the Crystal Badge event!" He shouted. "We are down to our final four; they have been paired up and are ready to begin. The two winners will advance to the final round where they will compete for the Crystal Badge and, Amaura and Tyrunt fossils, so please welcome to the Arena on the blue side, Aria Miller!"

A young girl in a short pink dress and heals walks out into the arena, arms waving. Around her waist sits a small pink bag that sparkled in the light.

"Aria has fought hard to make it to the top four, showing all of us over the last 2 days her skills in training leaf Pokémon! In the last battle she came close to losing against that Charmeleon but her Pokémon managed to take it down." She bowed and stood beside the announcer.

"Now please welcome on the red side Luke Gordon." The crowd cheered loud and a few even stood. A tall man walked out into the arena, he wore a dark suit and tie, and his hair slicked back. He walked straight to the center before looking up at the crowd and smirking. "Luke has entranced everyone with his Hypno who has been dominating in the matches!" Luke held the Poke ball that held his Hypno up towards the crowd.

The two competitors made their way to opposite sides of the arena to stand in the trainer's box. Both held out their first Pokémon's ball and waited for the buzzer, when it sounded they threw them into the arena and the match began.

I stood on the sidelines awaiting my turn and watching as the two competed. I took in everything because I knew I would be battling one of them this evening. At the start of their match I already knew who was going to win. Luke was obviously the stronger opponent and as the battle continued you could tell he was winning. Aria was strong but she lacked the discipline that Luke had, she didn't have much in the way of strategy either. When facing a foe that is greater than you, you can still win if you have a strategy and the ability to think quickly and that was exactly what I had.

The final hit was taken and Aria had lost just as I predicted. She fell to her knees in shame as Luke walked quietly out of the arena, his fans cheering him on. I held my hand over the five balls around my waist and looked down at Rory who let a few sparks out from his cheeks showing he was ready. The announcer took the stage again and began by introducing my opponent Terry Brandon, a young boy with bright blonde hair who was tall and thin. He gave a thumbs up to the crowd as they cheered him on. Then my name was called and the light came on above me. I walked out into the arena with Rory beside me; I looked up at the crowd and forced an awkward smile. This was a battle of skills not a popularity contest, I got fewer cheers than my competitor, but I was not in this for the fame, I came to prove myself and to go home with the crystal badge, nothing else mattered.

When the crowd had settled and the announcer finished his speech I took my place on the blue side in the trainer box while Rory stood on the railing waiting for the buzzer to sound. I could see Terry on the other side holding out his first poke ball and as soon as the buzzer rang he called out his Pokémon and Rory jumped from the railing and ran towards the center of the arena. Terry had thought this through, knowing I would use Rory he sent out a rock type, Graveler. Rory dodged the first attack easily with his speed. Graveler was big which made him slow and had to do most of his moving curled up in a ball to even stand a chance of keeping up. Thunder attacks wouldn't work on him so I opted for more physical attacks. Rory was small but despite his size he was strong, I had trained him that way. I called out for him to use iron tail and he bent down to ready himself. As Graveler approached him Rory shot up and came down hard with iron tail knocking his opponent against the floor causing him to open his body. With another hit Graveler flew across the room and crashed against Terry's stand shaking it. Making sure not to let Graveler shake off and recover Rory used quick attack to close the gap between them and went for another iron tail attack from above but Graveler recovered quickly and caught Rory in his arms wrapping them tightly around him. Rory yelped with surprise and started struggling to free himself from its arms while attempting to shock him with thunder, but it did little to help. I tried to think of a way to get him out, but the options were limited due to the Graveler's body size and material, bite would only hurt Rory and with limited mobility quick attack and iron tail wouldn't work. Being an electric verses rock his thunder attacks didn't work either. I looked around the room, the setting of the arena offering nothing to help, if only there was water and a way to get the water onto the opponent. That's when it hit me, all arenas have a built in sprinkler system to prevent it from being destroyed due to fire attacks. I looked up at the ceiling and saw exactly what I was looking for. I directed Rory to aim his thunderbolt at the sprinklers and it worked like a charm, the whole stadium was now being rained down on and after delivering a powerful thunderbolt to the now wet Graveler it was knocked out and Rory was let free. Terry recalled Graveler and we had won the match. The announcer came back onto the stage calling for an intermission as the water is cleaned up and the final set was arranged. Each round held a different element, but we were not told of the setting before each match so we could not choose our Pokémon based on it. It was meant to create more of a challenge and sometimes you can benefit from it, or it can be what leads to your destruction.

I took this chance to dry off in the trainer room and get Rory the needed healing before the final battle. I was given a towel by a staff member and took a seat on the bench running the towel over my wet hair. Since the water would need to be cleaned up before the match the wait between would be longer so we were offered a handful of snacks for both ourselves and our Pokémon.

"Jaden?" A boy's voice asked. I looked up from under the towel to see Terry standing before me.

"Yes." I replied as I stood.

"Great match." He smiled and held his hand out. I took his hand in mine and we shook. "You and your Pikachu are very impressive."

"Thank you, you held your own quite well out there." I smiled.

"Just not as good as you." He laughed. "Good luck with your last battle Jaden."

"Thank you." I said as he turned.

He left the trainer's room seeing as he had no reason to be there as most of the other had left as well. A few of the female trainers had stayed back to pay their attention to Luke before his final match, he seemed to be taking it all in a boasting about how he had already won. I only rolled my eyes knowing he was being way too cocky and that would be his downfall. He thinks he has already won which makes him more venerable; he won't put as much focus into the match as he would if he was nervous. He was defiantly in this for the fame and for that I would put him in his place.

My phone buzzed in my pocket which signaled that Rory was healed up so I stood grabbing a few cookies from the tray and headed for the medical unit at the end of the hall. Rory was happily sitting with the other Pokémon munching on a snack that the nurse had given him. When he saw me he ran right over and I picked him up to rest over my shoulder. I thanked the nurse and we headed back to the trainers area where we dug into some sandwiches and cookies.

When the match drew closer the other trainers were asked to leave which left just me and Luke in the room to sit in silence. He was leaning back in his chair with his hands resting behind his head and a smirk on his face. He looked over to me and let out a small laugh.

"You know, your Pokémon are meant to be in their balls." He said.

"I prefer to let them choose." I replied.

"That's weak, you are the trainer." He snared.

"And this is how I choose to train my Pokémon." I said getting up from my seat and leaving the room. It's not that I was offended, I was use to others thinking less of my abilities because I let my Pokémon wonder outside of their balls, I just hated being in the same room with someone who is so full of themselves.

I leaned up against the wall just outside of the room just as we called back into the arena. I took my position on the sidelines for the blue side and waited until my name was called and the cheers followed as I walked back into the arena.

The final battle was about to begin…..

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><p>Hope you enjoyed the story and I will post the second chapter as soon as I can. Stay tuned for the final battle between Jaden and Luke as they compete for the Crystal Badge and Jaden's awkward run in with Ash, Misty and Brock.<p> 


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